CANBERRA: Australia`s next minority government will be under pressure to retain a proposed mining tax, with three out of four independent and Green MPs who hold the balance of power saying they supported the controversial tax.Australia`s mining-share index hit an intraday low, shedding

PHOENIX: Arizona voters were to decide the fate of former Republican presidential candidate John McCain Tuesday in one of several closely-watched US races seen as a test of the country`s anti-incumbent mood.The four-term senator was polling well ahead of former congressman and

Washington: The US treasury department has frozen the assets of the finance chief of Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden`s son-in-law.The department Tuesday froze all assets Muhammad Abdallah Hasan Abu-al-Khayr has under US jurisdiction and prohibited US nationals from engaging in any

ISLAMABAD: The United Nations has launched an urgent appeal for more helicopters for Pakistan where it said 800,000 people have been cut off by the country`s devastating floods and were only reachable by air."As monsoon floods continue to displace millions in southern Pakistan, an

DANANG: Southeast Asian nations need closer cooperation to deal with incidents like the Philippines bus hijacking that left eight Hong Kong tourists dead, the regional bloc`s head said Wednesday."I think there is room for more cooperation and more exchange of best practices, training for

PAKOKKU: With undercover police lurking nearby, breakaway opposition leader Than Nyein pleaded in vain with local democracy activists to contest army-ruled Myanmar`s first election in 20 years.Standing up to the junta is fraught with risk, and with democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi

MANILA: Flags across the Philippines flew at half mast Wednesday on a national day of mourning for Hong Kong tourists killed in a hostage crisis, amid a hailstorm of criticism over alleged police blunders.President Benigno Aquino called the day of mourning to remember the eight tourists

BEIJING: A Chinese airliner crashed and burst into flames while attempting to land in northeast China on Tuesday, killing 43 people on board, state media reported.The Henan Airlines plane overshot the runway while trying to touch down at an airport in the city of Yichun in remote

MOGADISHU: Gunmen in army uniforms stormed a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu frequented by government officials Tuesday, killing at least 31 people including legislators, the government said.Hardline al Shabaab Islamists linked to al Qaeda have been waging an insurgency for three

BEIJING: A Chinese airliner crashed and burst into flames while attempting to land in northeast China on Tuesday, killing 43 people on board, state media reported. The Henan Airlines plane overshot the runway while trying to touch down at an airport in the city of Yichun in remote

BAGHDAD: Two Iraqi judges were killed last week, an official said Tuesday, in a spate of attacks claimed by Al-Qaeda which says it was avenging death sentences being handed down to Sunnis in Shiite prisons.The latest murders recall a series of attacks against judges across Iraq in 2004

BEIJING: China on Tuesday voiced its opposition to a recent meeting between the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, warning New Delhi not to "disturb" overall ties.The exiled Buddhist monk made a "routine call" on Singh in New Delhi earlier

MOGADISHU: At least 29 Somali civilians were killed in fighting between insurgents and government troops backed by African Union forces in Mogadishu, medics said Tuesday.The fighting broke out on Monday afternoon and continued overnight after fighters from the Al Qaeda-inspired Shebab

Kathmandu: The festival of Raksha Bandhan, when sisters pray for the long life of their brothers, turned into stark tragedy in Nepal Tuesday as all 14 people aboard a private aircraft carrying tourists were killed following a crash near Kathmandu.The flight by domestic airline Agni Air

Washington: The United States has asked Pakistan to have a constructive relationship with India and Afghanistan,  saying effective and coordinated action across the region was needed to meet the common threat of terrorism.    "These are individual judgments made country by country,"

SEOUL: South Korea has detected a "massive" deployment of North Korean troops and arms near the capital Pyongyang, Seoul`s defence ministry said Tuesday.The large number of soldiers, armoured vehicles and artillery have been stationed near the communist state`s capital since July 12, the

WASHINGTON: A US general said on Monday that Afghan forces will not be ready to take over security duties from NATO-led troops for at least another year, three months after a scheduled start of a US withdrawal.The United States and its NATO allies view building up the Afghan army and

MONTREAL: Amnesty International`s new secretary general, Salil Shetty, on Monday accused the Canadian government of a "serious worsening" of human rights in Canada."Amnesty International is more and more concerned about the serious worsening of the human rights approach of this

WASHINGTON: Former US president Jimmy Carter plans to visit North Korea soon on a mission to secure the release of an American man serving eight years of hard labor there, Foreign Policy magazine said Monday."Jimmy Carter is set to travel to North Korea very soon, according to two sources

CANBERRA: Australia faces a week of political wrangling as votes were counted on Monday from an inconclusive election, with financial markets rowing back on early expectations of a minority conservative government.Online bookmakers changed their betting to make Prime Minister Julia